Table of Contents

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 8-K

CURRENT REPORT

Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Date of Report (Date of earliest event reported)		June 9, 2003

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.

---

Michigan		0-22025		94-3096597
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation)		(Commission File Number)		(IRS Employer Identification No.)

24 Frank Lloyd Wright Drive, P.O. Box 376, Ann Arbor Michigan		48106
(Address of principal executive offices)		(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code		(734) 930-5555

Not Applicable

---

 

---

	Item 5. Other Events.
	Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.
SIGNATURES
EXHIBIT INDEX
EXHIBIT 99.1

---

Table of Contents

Item 5. Other Events.

On June 9, 2003, Aastrom entered into a strategic alliance with the Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (“MTF”) to jointly develop and commercialize innovative treatments for the regeneration of tissues such as bone and cartilage. On June 10, 2003, Aastrom and MTF issued a joint press release about this strategic alliance. The press release is attached as Exhibit 99.1.

Item 7. Financial Statements and Exhibits.

Exhibit
No.		Description
99.1		Press Release of June 10, 2003 relating to strategic alliance with Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation

SIGNATURES

     Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto duly authorized.

		Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.
Date: June 10, 2003		By:		/s/ Alan M. Wright
				Senior Vice President, Administrative and Financial Operations, CFO

 

---

Table of Contents

EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit
No.		Description
99.1		Press Release of June 10, 2003 relating to strategic alliance with Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation

 

                                                                    EXHIBIT 99.1


(AASTROM LETTERHEAD)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CONTACTS:  Kris M. Maly or                 Tom Shaffer
           Becky Anderson                  Director of Marketing
           Investor Relations Department   Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation
           Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.       Phone: (800) 946-9008, ext. 2522
           Phone: (734) 930-5777

AASTROM BIOSCIENCES, MUSCULOSKELETAL TRANSPLANT FOUNDATION PARTNER TO DEVELOP
NOVEL TREATMENTS FOR TISSUE REGENERATION

- -- ALLIANCE BRINGS TOGETHER INDUSTRY LEADERS IN STEM CELLS AND ORTHOPEDIC
MEDICINE --

ANN ARBOR, MI AND EDISON, NJ, JUNE 10, 2003 -- Aastrom Biosciences, Inc.
(NasdaqSC: ASTM) and Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation (MTF) today announced
a strategic alliance to jointly develop and commercialize innovative treatments
for the regeneration of tissues such as bone and cartilage. The companies will
initially focus on combining their respective technologies to establish a novel
treatment approach for bone graft applications. This market is estimated at over
1.4 million procedures annually, including spinal fusions, non-union fractures,
dental defects and facial bone repair, and is expected to exhibit progressive
growth in the future.

The partnership aligns an industry leader in stem cell therapies (Aastrom) with
the leading provider of allograft, or donor-derived tissue, matrices (MTF) to
form a coordinated business and clinical approach for new products and
treatments needed in orthopedic medicine. Under the terms of the alliance, the
companies will provide each other with rights to their respective technologies
for treatments and products that are based on combinations of MTF's matrices and
Aastrom's Tissue Repair Cells (TRCs). The companies will share in the
development and clinical trial expense of these treatment approaches and
products, and will adopt a coordinated promotion and marketing strategy for
future products. In addition to allograft-based bone graft treatments, the
companies will explore new approaches for the regeneration of joint cartilage,
as well as effective combinations of TRCs with MTF's new ceramic matrix
technology.

"This strategic alliance gives Aastrom the partner we have been seeking in the
orthopedic field, and will allow us to combine our capabilities and resources to
jointly develop and then market an effective alternative to the current standard
bone graft procedures," said R. Douglas Armstrong, Ph.D., President and Chief
Executive Officer of Aastrom. "MTF is the world's largest and most respected
allograft matrix provider, and its decision to partner with Aastrom validates
our strategic position and focus on the commercial development of our bone and
cartilage regeneration programs. This alliance, supported by MTF's technology,
expertise and funding, should enable us to bring our technology through the
regulatory and logistics pipeline and into the marketplace in the near term."

"We are very excited to be working with Aastrom in the area of stem cell
technology. We believe that the combination of bone progenitor cells with the
native architecture and compatibility provided by allograft tissues will produce
a superior graft equal to the `gold standard' of the patient's own tissues,"
said Bruce W. Stroever, President and Chief Executive Officer of MTF. "We
believe this alliance brings together the business and technology components
needed to pioneer the next era in orthopedic medicine, and maximize the
beneficial use of the precious resource of donated tissue."

Aastrom has developed a powerful technology capable of producing a stem
cell-based cell mixture from a small sample of the patient's own cells. These
cells - called Tissue Repair Cells - have been shown in clinical trials to
generate normal human tissues safely and reliably in patients. The Company has
demonstrated in laboratory research that its TRCs contain more than


                                     -more-



                                                            Aastrom-MTF Alliance
                                                                   June 10, 2003
                                                                          Page 2


a 70-fold increase in the number of bone-forming cell types, compared with the
patient's own bone marrow.

Traditional bone grafting procedures, which use autograft, require the
collection of bone and marrow by removing bone chips from a patient's own hip,
an invasive surgical process resulting in acute and chronic pain, as well as
long-term complications. In an attempt to eliminate this undesirable procedure,
MTF has developed various forms of bone matrices from donated tissues. The
companies believe that combining these matrices with Aastrom's TRCs will bring
together all the components needed to regenerate bone similarly to autograft,
and will eliminate the undesirable and painful surgical procedure currently
needed to provide the autograft.

ABOUT AASTROM BIOSCIENCES, INC.

Aastrom Biosciences, Inc. (NasdaqSC: ASTM) is a late-stage development company
focused on human cell-based therapies. The AastromReplicell(TM) System - a
patented, integrated system of instrumentation and single-use consumable kits
for the production of patient-specific cells - is the Company's core technology
for its Prescription Cell Products (PCP) business and its Cell Production
Products (CPP) business. The principal focus of the PCP business is the repair
or regeneration of tissue intended for large markets such as bone grafting and
severe osteoporosis. The CPP business markets the AastromReplicell(TM) System to
researchers and companies for their production of cells for clinical trials.
These two businesses are intended to enable Aastrom to generate multiple paths
to revenue. The initial commercial phase of the CPP business for dendritic cell
production products is underway in Europe and the United States. For more
information, visit Aastrom's website at www.aastrom.com.

ABOUT MUSCULOSKELETAL TRANSPLANT FOUNDATION

The Musculoskeletal Transplant Foundation is the country's largest tissue
organization dedicated to providing quality tissue through a commitment to
excellence in education, research, recovery and care for recipients, donors and
their families. A not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization, MTF is a consortium of
academic medical institutions and organ procurement and tissue recovery
organizations across the country. In 2002, over 275,000 tissue grafts were
distributed by MTF, helping over 200,000 patients. For more information, visit
MTF's website at www.mtf.org.

THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION,
STATEMENTS CONCERNING PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES AND ANTICIPATED RESULTS,
POTENTIAL PRODUCT APPLICATIONS, ANTICIPATED MARKET GROWTH AND POTENTIAL
ADVANTAGES OF THE AASTROMREPLICELL(TM) SYSTEM, WHICH INVOLVE CERTAIN RISKS AND
UNCERTAINTIES. THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS ARE ALSO IDENTIFIED THROUGH USE OF
THE WORDS "EXPECTED," "INTENDED," "SHOULD," "BELIEVE," AND OTHER WORDS OF
SIMILAR MEANING. ACTUAL RESULTS MAY DIFFER SIGNIFICANTLY FROM THE EXPECTATIONS
CONTAINED IN THE FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS. AMONG THE FACTORS THAT MAY RESULT
IN DIFFERENCES ARE CLINICAL TRIAL RESULTS, POTENTIAL PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
DIFFICULTIES, REGULATORY APPROVAL UNCERTAINTIES, THE AVAILABILITY OF FINANCIAL
AND OTHER RESOURCES AND THE ALLOCATION OF RESOURCES AMONG DIFFERENT POTENTIAL
USES. THESE AND OTHER SIGNIFICANT FACTORS ARE DISCUSSED IN GREATER DETAIL IN
AASTROM'S ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM 10-K AND OTHER FILINGS WITH THE SECURITIES AND
EXCHANGE COMMISSION.

                                       ###